D-Day looms for post office branches

The fate of post offices across the West Midlands will be sealed tomorrow when the Government reveals which branches will be shut down.

Thirty branches in the region are under threat after being identified as suffering from a lack of business.

Many traditional post office services, such as car tax payments, are now being provided online which is said to have contributed to a downturn in custom.

Protests have been launched by devastated customers, who have organised petitions and bombarded the Government with objections.

While an announcement will be made tomorrow, it is believed some branches may have already been told of their fate. One worker in the Upper Penn Post Office, in Penn Road, Wolverhampton, said staff had been told the branch was going to be axed.

The news is set to come as a blow for customers, who have signed a 1,500-name petition in a bid to save the branch from the chop.

Customer Damien Samuels, aged 62, from Penn House Avenue, said today: "It's a real shame that the branch could close.

"It is a service for the whole community and if it closes it will have a devastating impact.

"It's a lot more difficult for elderly people to get to other branches. It will be a real problem for lots of people." Judith Allen, aged 64, from Wynn Road, said: "The post office has served the area really well. I pop in myself around twice a week and it will be a real struggle for older people who find it more difficult to get out."

Branches in Prestwood Road, Willenhall Road, and Villiers Avenue, Wolverhampton, are also facing closure.

Zahid Malik, sub postmaster of closure-threatened Stafford Street Post Office, in Walsall, said he was "at a loss" to understand why the busy branch which has served the community for 72 years could be axed.

"It makes no sense at all because last year Post Office Counters did a survey and we were told we were one of the best branches in Walsall," said the 40-year-old.

"They also spent £20,000 installing an automated cash machine which is very popular with our customers. There has been a post office here since 1936. Some of the old people tell me they have been coming here since they were children."

Other branches waiting to hear their fate in Walsall include Butts post office, Butts Road; Rushall, in Lichfield Road, and Delves, in Walstead Road. Dudley Fields, in Sneyd Hall Road, Bloxwich, is also on the list.

Father and son Benjamin and Ken Dildar who have run Hasbury Post Office and Newsagents in Halesowen for the past 24 years, said they were worried about the announcement tomorrow.

Ken Dildar, aged 43, said the branch in Hagley Road, Halesowen, was well-used.

l Find out what is happening with your local post office in tomorrow's Express & Star.